The Interference: Final Mix
by Newbie-Spud
Summary: A series of "reimagined" one-shot scenes from the saga of The Interference. Some scenes redone, some new scenes from between the lines. A deeper look into the emotion, dialogue, and drama that would result from one teenage boy's presence.
1. The Reunion with Kairi

**The Interference: Final Mix**

_Scene: The Reunion with Kairi_

_From The Interference Chapter 19: Sinister Sundown_

Sora, Donald, and Goofy eagerly followed Pence up to the station. Adrenaline was rushing through all of them, making them run as fast as they could. They all knew their luck could go sour at any moment, so they were trying to beat destiny to the punch...

After what felt like an agonizing eternity to Sora, the group finally reached the top of the hill and entered the station's insanely large plaza. In the bright sunset, it was clear to see the three people standing at the station's front doors. Like a magnet, Sora's eyes were immediately drawn to the central figure, a dark brunette with blue eyes that Sora would know anywhere, anytime.

"_Kairi_!" Sora screamed at the top of his lungs. Ignoring everything else, he shoved past his friends and rushed across the plaza.

Kairi, who had been waiting patiently for this moment, yelled, "_Sora_!" and rushed down the station's steps to meet him.

Halfway between the two groups, the two Destiny Island friends reunited in a tight embrace. They held onto each other with all the strength they could muster, both of them afraid of losing the other again. But right now, after so much time, they had finally been reunited.

For a while, neither of them said anything, just taking in the moment. Then Donald and Goofy caught up with Sora and joined in the embrace. Donald jumped up and hung onto Sora and Kairi's shoulders while Goofy just grabbed them all together in one big hug. The tension finally passed, and all of them fell into giggling fits.

Meanwhile, Alexander Karsath reached the summit of the Station Heights and entered the plaza. Coming up behind Pence, he looked at the group hug and jokingly said, "Hey, have I missed the mushy part yet? Heh, guess not."

Pence looked back at him with surprise. "Alex! You okay? Where'd that guy go?"

Sora and the group finished their joyous laughter and looked back at the Interference.

Alex just shrugged at his friend. "Took a while, but I finally managed to drive him off. But then a bunch of regular Nobodies showed up, and I had to take care of them too..." He then looked back at Sora and noticed that the group was done hugging. And now that it didn't feel like a precious moment, Alex was comfortable with reuniting with them.

As he crossed the distance between them, the teenage, spiky-haired gamer-turned-warrior was feeling fairly smug. He'd succeeded in causing a significant change in the game's storyline, he'd lived through yet _another_ battle with an Organization XIII member, and there didn't seem to be a single negative consequence for it in sight. He was doing his job, and he was doing it _very_ well.

Loaded with confidence, Alex finally stood in front of Sora, who'd turned around to face him. With a smirk and a shrug, Alex opened his mouth to say something cool and noncommittal...

But the air got squeezed out of him in a "B_-wuh_?" as he found himself being tightly hugged by Sora. This thought ran through his surprised mind several times. Sora was _hugging_ him? Sora was _hugging_ him! _Why_ was Sora hugging him? "W-Wha... Hey, Sora..."

But Sora only tightened the embrace, almost as if he'd known Alex was going to object. "Thank you," Sora said with complete sincerity. "Thank you so much."

Alexander was stunned. His brain shut down, and his body froze up. Eventually, he managed to summon the willpower to move his arms and eventually hug Sora back, even though he now couldn't remember why. For a while, he just coasted along, lost and alone in what was perhaps the weirdest moment of his life.

And then it hit him. Sora, the main protagonist he'd played with for the last several years, was _thanking_ him with all his heart.

At last, Sora let go and stepped back, wearing a knowing smile on his face. Alex just stared back at him like a deer caught in the headlights.

Suddenly, a hand clamped onto Alex's shoulder. He looked to his side to see Goofy smiling at him. "Way to go, Alex!" the bumbling Disney character praised as he shook him a little bit.

Donald was at his other side, saying, "Great work! Way to go!" in his raspy duck voice.

Behind Sora, Kairi smiled at him and said nothing, though the thanks was evident in her expression.

In the midst of it all, Alexander just stood there and looked at his shoes. Part of it was from the surprise, but part of it was from shame. In acting, he'd completely disregarded the feelings of everyone else. He'd just done it because it was going against the flow. Being a rebel. He'd done it for himself.

But he looked up at Sora again, who was still smiling at him. He _knew_, Alex thought. The Keyblade master was _completely_ aware of Alex's selfishness. He _knew_ Alex hadn't had a single thought about his happiness.

Yet he was thanking him anyway.

The full force of that realization finally struck Alexander, and he quickly turned away to hide the tears welling up in his eyes. After a moment, he smiled back, politely accepted everyone's praise, and did his best to remain as quiet as possible while everyone else had their reunion.

He didn't want to ruin the moment again.


	2. Riku's Eyes and Axel's Heart

_Scene: Riku's Eyes and Axel's Heart_

_From The Interference Chapter 40: Deep Drive_

As much as he hated to think about it, Alex was used to waking up from blackouts. They'd gone through this routine so many times...

The painful darkness, the lack of conscious thought... then, slowly, the return of motor functions. The eyes open, but you don't actually see anything; you don't remember who you are, where you are, or what your past was for a few brief seconds. And after rising up, rubbing the side of your head that thumped against the floor, and looking around for a while, _everything_ comes back.

Alex looked around himself. His head still fuzzy, he took the time to take in the details around him. They were still on Naught's Approach, the last outdoor pathway leading into the heart of The Castle That Never Was in The World That Never Was.

Scattered nearby were various allies in various states of recovery. Mickey was already up (_**Figures,**_ Joumae telepathically remarked in Alexander's mind), but Donald and Goofy were only beginning to stir. Axel, the rebellious Organization XIII member Alexander had rescued from suicide, was still silent and unmoving. Sora and Kairi were beginning to get to their feet, and Riku...

Sora soon noticed him. "Riku?!" the Keyblade Master cried out, running over to the prone form of his best friend.

Alex held his breath. He'd known this was going to happen, but it still caught him off guard all the same. Up until this point, Riku had assumed the form of Sora's antagonist, Ansem, or rather Xehanort's Heartless. He'd also donned the robes of the Organization, presumably for a number of reasons.

But now Riku was lying face-down on the ground, so only the hair covering his head was visible. But that single detail had _drastically_ changed. Gone was the slicked-back gray mass that was the hair of Xehanort's Heartless. Now it was a long mane of bright-blue spikes that looked as though it hadn't been maintained in a year or two.

As Sora knelt over him, Riku began to push himself off the ground, groaning a little with the effort. Sora smiled, happy to see the face of his friend again. "Riku!" he shouted again, his voice echoing in the deathly silence.

Alexander carefully walked over, knowing how important this moment was. He watched as Riku rose to his feet. By now, they could definitely see that Riku's appearance had returned to normal. And yet... the black blindfold obscuring the young man's eyes almost made it seem like it hadn't.

Still, considering the circumstance, the change was no less sudden and drastic. Donald and Goofy, both of whom were up and ready at this point, let out gasps and "Wow!"s at Riku's change.

"Riku!" Kairi called out to release her own excitement.

Unable to see it himself, it was only now that Riku began to realize what had happened to him. It rendered him speechless, and he looked around blindly as if for answers.

Mickey Mouse just sort of nodded to himself. "Ansem did say 'anything could happen'..." he pointed out, still a bit winded from Riku's shocking transformation. Sure, Alexander had warned him about it earlier, but... after so long with Xehanort's Heartless, the real thing was hard to accept.

And now that Ansem was mentioned, the whole group turned toward the other side of the current platform, where Ansem the Wise and his Kingdom Hearts-hacking machine had once been. There was nothing left in the aftermath of the machine's explosion; Ansem the Wise had completely disappeared.

Alex felt a little conflict between himself. Ansem had been a man after his own heart; a nearly obsessive intellectual who loved nothing more than to think boldly on the toughest subjects. And yet he didn't feel as much remorse as he might've expected to. Part of it was likely due to the short time they'd spent together – all of half an hour at most – and yet there was something more to it than that. Like Alexander had already accepted Ansem's choice and moved on.

Sora must have felt similarly, because he was quick to get back to the more important matter at hand. He turned to the friend at his side and said, "Riku, you gonna take that thing off?"

There was a short pause. "Oh..." Riku mumbled; it hadn't even occurred to him. He reached for the blindfold and smoothly pulled it off, like it had hardly been tied on in the first place. Sora stepped to the side to get a better look at Riku's face, and Alex followed suit behind him.

Riku blinked a few times as his eyes adjusted to the light. Several spikes of his unkempt hair were hanging in front of his eyes, but the sky blue color was still very clearly visible.

Unlike the others, this was the first time Alexander had ever seen Riku's eyes in real life.

"What was that?" Sora found himself asking, confused by the blindfold's purpose.

Mickey approached the three boys, who all turned at the sound of his echoing footsteps. "His eyes couldn't lie," he stated simply.

Alex scowled. That was hardly an explanation. There were connotations, of course; Riku didn't want to be fooled by the darkness he was staring into, or some such thing. By refusing to use his eyes, he couldn't be fooled by false visions.

But that didn't help Sora much. "Lie?" He turned to his best friend and said, "And just who were you trying to fool? Huh? _Huhhh?_"

"Myself," Riku replied coldly.

Sora was caught off guard by his friend's behavior. "Riku... C'mon, man! Why did you try to do so much on your own?" Dragging Alex by the arm, he brought the rest of the group together to face Riku. "You've got friends... like us!"

Riku stared at the group for a while, taking them all in. One by one, Goofy, Donald, Mickey, Kairi, and Sora smiled and gave him reassuring looks. But as Riku's gaze passed over Alexander, the Interference found himself averting his eyes and wilting under the pressure. Unlike Sora's claim, Alex did _not_ consider himself a friend of Riku. That is, he desperately wanted Riku to be his friend, but he didn't think he was good enough to be the kind of friend Riku needed right now.

After a few moments more of this, Riku stepped toward Sora with a serious expression on his face. "Have you forgotten?" he growled. "I'll tell you why."

The blue-haired ally drew the moment out a little longer... and then the scowl gave way to a confident smirk. "'Cause I'm not a total _sap_ like you."

"Say that again!" Sora retorted, all too ready to play along in the playful banter.

Alex took a deep breath to calm himself. But as his mind wandered in search of other things to focus on, he noticed Axel near the wall. They'd nearly forgotten about him in the drama surrounding Riku, but it seemed he was only just beginning to get to his feet as it was.

The Organization member groaned with the effort of rising, drawing the attention of everyone else. Sora looked at him concernedly. "You okay, Axel?"

Axel resorted to leaning against the wall, clutching his chest with one hand and holding his place on the wall with the other. For a while, he didn't say anything in response. He looked bewildered, and he kept grabbing at his chest...

"Heh." It started as chuckles. "Heh heh heh..." Then it grew to outright laughter. "Heh heh _hahaHAHAHAHAAAAA_!!!" Fire _exploded_ into existence all around Axel, making everyone else jump back. Mickey even summoned his Keyblade in response.

The fire quickly faded away, and Axel looked at everyone with an insane grin on his face. "I can't... I can't believe it! Haha! I... I actually have...!" he trailed off repeatedly. He couldn't seem to find the words he needed.

Alexander exchanged confused looks with the others. But then a thought struck him. "Axel?" he said, walking toward him.

Axel grinned and got off the wall. He said nothing; he didn't have to, really.

All at once, the realization struck them. "You have a heart!" Kairi exclaimed, her eyes wide in surprise.

"How is that possible?" Donald quacked.

Every eye turned to Alexander. Being put on the spot, Alex couldn't come up with an answer immediately. He was just as surprised as everyone else about this. Saving Axel had been an experiment in itself; there was no way he could predict what followed.

He looked at where Ansem had been and then back at Axel. It was... crazy; the odds were astronomical when you really thought about it, but... "Well... Maybe... Maybe your heart was in that light, Axel. Maybe one of the Heartless we defeated on this journey belonged to _you_."

"Really?" Riku asked a little skeptically.

"Sounds like one awful big coincidence," Mickey agreed.

"I know," Alex replied.

"Aw, who cares?!" Axel interrupted, still smiling insanely. "Who. Freaking. _Cares_!?! I have a heart again! I'm human again! I..." He laughed. "I can feel things again! Oh man, you have no idea..."

He began to lose momentum. "Man, even _I_ had no idea... Up until now, how painful that was..." Axel then looked at Alexander. "...Thank you, Alex. I... Wow, _thank you_."

Sora placed a hand on Alex's shoulder. "Good job, Alex."

Alexander couldn't help but laugh. Once again, he was being praised. He didn't feel like he deserved it... Actually, it was then that Alex realized that he had some real trouble accepting thanks and praise. Perhaps he hadn't had the chance back home, or maybe it was something deeper than that... But one way or another, Alex wasn't used to being a part of truly friendly company.

He looked around at all of the people who were smiling at him. Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Kairi, Sora, Axel... and Riku. Riku was looking at him with respect.

_Man, I'm pathetic,_ Alexander thought to himself. But nonetheless, feeling as though he was on equal terms with _Riku_ of all people made Alexander feel that much more proud of himself.

But the celebration had to come to an end. It started with a strange, high-pitched whine that reverberated through the air. Everyone looked up at the heart-shaped moon up in the sky – Kingdom Hearts, the project of Xemnas that Ansem had sabotaged – and cringed at what they saw.

There was a gaping wound in the heart; a large, charred crater caused by the explosion minutes ago. Rings of escaping energy wrapped around it, and a number of the free-floating hearts in the air were being drawn to it. "Uhhh-oh!" Donald moaned, successfully expressing everyone's thoughts at that time.

Then a low rumble came from lower in the castle. Everyone hurried to the ledge and looked down. Even Alexander, already knowing what they were going to see, was frightened.

The walkways below were literally _covered_ by black Shadows. A massive wave of Shadow Heartless were climbing up through the castle... Toward _them_. Sure, they'd faced 1000 Heartless before... but this force greatly exceeded that number. It was larger than all the Heartless they'd faced before _altogether_.

Alex desperately wanted relieve some tension by saying something witty... but he was too scared to speak.

Sora was far calmer. "What should we do, Riku?"

"We _must_ defeat Xemnas," the Destiny Islander replied. "He's the Organization's last survivor."

No one decided to bring up that, technically, Axel and Roxas had survived.

"_Alright_!" Axel declared, summoning his chakrams in bursts of flame. "Let's _do this_!" With unexpected gusto, he charged up the path and into the next room.

The rest of the group was left stunned for a moment. Riku then chuckled, grabbed his Organization cloak, and threw it off in one pull. Underneath, he was wearing blue jeans, a white jacket with yellow trim on top of another black jacket, and a thick brace around his left wrist.

He nodded, apparently comfortable with his change of attire. "C'mon!" he said. "Can't let Axel go by himself." He ran ahead, along with Mickey, Donald, and Goofy.

Sora nodded and looked back at Alexander. "Let's go!"

Alex grinned, getting psyched up for the task ahead. "You got it!" He, Kairi, and Sora all ran up the path to catch up with the other five members of their party.

Behind them, Riku's cloak drifted through the air to the ground below. It landed on top of a group of Shadows, smothering them for a moment as they tried to uncover themselves. But the rest of the army kept marching on, closing in on the only hearts remaining in that entire broken world.


	3. The Rage of Saïx

_Scene: The Rage of Saï__x_

_From The Interference Chapter 40: Sacred Moon_

Alexander was doing his best to keep up with King Mickey. Once again, the iconic mouse had attempted to separate from the rest of the group in true support character fashion, but Alex had been determined to keep Mickey in his sights. Besides, they were rushing to meet the real Ansem the Wise, and Alex didn't want to miss that at all.

They were now in the room known as the Hall of Empty Melodies. It was clearly an arena, being nothing more than a rectangular platform suspended over a black pit. There were even balconies and lofts above them for spectators. Fortunately, Alex had gotten over his fear of heights, so the bottomless pit below didn't frighten him to the point of paralysis.

It was also fortunate that they were far ahead of the group. In the game, this was where the player battled against Xigbar, the Organization's number II. But since they were so far ahead, they wouldn't have to –

"Alexander..."

"Freakin'-" Alex muttered as he came to a stop and looked up. Mickey, some distance ahead, stopped and moved back to the center of the platform to look up at the speaker.

Standing on the balcony above them was Saïx, the Organization's number VII, the Luna Diviner. The blue-haired Nobody kept a cold stare on Alexander as he said, "You've done well."

_**Oh, great,**_ Joumae remarked in Alexander's mind. **_It's the 'good job so far, now you die' speech._**

Alex shared his counterpart's antipathy. "Oh, done well, have I?" he replied sarcastically. Speaking a bit louder, he said, "For _who_?"

Saïx was silent for a moment. "Excellent question." He turned his head up toward the heart-shaped moon in the sky. "You and Sora _have_ been useful for Organization XIII. Though, at this point, we can do away with you."

"Yeah, yeah," Alexander grumbled, rolling his eyes, "your synthetic Kingdom Hearts its almost complete thanks to our dirty work – _I get it_." Summoning the Lockshield to his hands, he added, "Trust me, that's about to change!"

Mickey shot the Interference a worried look. "Alexander..."

"Oh... you are _confident_, are you?" Saïx scoffed, his tone as flat and emotionless as ever.

Alex smirked. He had faced tons upon tons of _massive_ Heartless bosses, saved Axel from his destined demise, and come into the possession of powerful magic spells. He was certain that both he and Mickey could take the Berserker on.

He opened his mouth to say something confident and looked up at Saïx... only to watch him disappear. Alex panicked. He'd moved! The Interference looked around to see where the Nobody was...

Next thing he knew, he was sprawling from a claymore strike to the head. Mickey quickly responded and charged Saïx, who had appeared at Alexander's side. Mickey jumped into the air and swung his Keyblade at Saïx repeatedly, striking the claymore and pushing the Nobody back a little bit.

But Saïx's blank expression turned to one of rage as a bright blue aura surrounded his body and weapon. With a cry of anger, Saïx swung his claymore heavily toward Mickey, creating a massive shockwave of blue energy that threw the mouse back. King Mickey spun in midair and landed on his feet next to Alexander, who was just getting to his feet.

The moment of power had passed, but Saïx still took heavy breaths. "_You_..." he growled, his voice no longer monotonic, "have ruined... _**EVERYTHING!**_"

Alex reflexively stepped back at the outburst. Saïx was pissed, and pissed at him alone.

"A _**year**_!" Saïx yelled. "For more than a year, we worked undercover! We, Organization XIII, took every conceivable measure to remain in secret as we worked! And then _**YOU**_ came along!! _**YOU**_, Alexander, _singlehandedly_ destroyed everything we'd worked for in Twilight Town! _In a single day!_"

Step by step, Saïx advanced with increasingly murderous rage. "But you didn't stop there, _did you_!? No, you thwarted our plans at _**every step**_! Beast's Castle, Olympus Coliseum... you even rescued _**Kairi!!**_ Of all the things you could've done, you decided to rescue that _useless_ little _damsel_!!"

Silence. Saïx seemed to lose a little steam. For their part, Alexander and Mickey were silent; they simply couldn't have imagined a reaction like this.

But then he spoke again, calmer this time. "You saved Axel from destruction... and now, you seek to destroy our Kingdom Hearts. But you won't. No..."

Alex swallowed. What had been rage was now a calm intent to kill, focused completely on him. It sent shivers down his spine and fear through his heart.

Saïx stepped back toward the center of the platform and looked up at the moon. "Kingdom Hearts... That moon... It is the only thing we have left. The only thing you haven't destroyed..."

The Nobody spread out his arms. Alex and Mickey immediately assumed fighting stances.

Saïx smiled a wicked smile. "Do you feel it? The moon's power...!" Slowly, he rose into the air. "With this power..."

The room darkened, and the bright blue berserker aura appeared around the Nobody.

The Luna Diviner scowled. "I will _**END YOU!!!**_"

"_Run_!" Alex shouted. Both he and Mickey started running as Saïx came crashing down onto the platform, sending shockwaves of energy racing across the floor. Immediately, the Nobody charged at the fighters, swinging his enhanced claymore and creating even more violent shockwaves with every step.

The battle was on.


	4. Ansem's Inquiry

_Extra: Ansem's Inquiry_

_During The Interference Chapter 2: The 2nd Day_

For a while, neither of them wanted to say anything.

DiZ sat at the computer terminal, staring into nearly twenty different monitors displaying information that only he was concerned with. Riku stood at the back of the room, his Organization cloak obscuring his entire body. The latter repeatedly tossed an orange pouch up and down to pass the time – the munny pouch he'd... _obtained_ from Roxas in the data world.

Finally, Riku swiped the pouch from the air and said, "Is it really that hard to make a beach?" His voice was not his own; it was much deeper. But then again, his current body was not his own either.

"We'd be giving the enemy another entry point," DiZ explained shortly.

It made enough sense for Riku, but he held up the pouch for DiZ to see. "And this?"

DiZ rotated his chair to face him. "We can always buy some sea-salt ice cream," he pointed out. He laughed, knowing how juxtaposed the statement was with the situation. At this point, they needed some levity. But soon, he was back to business and facing the computer again. "Objects from that town must be kept out of..." He trailed off abruptly.

Riku wasn't sure how to react to that. "What is it?"

The older man was silent for a long time. Riku could tell there was something serious going through his mind – DiZ was usually prompt with some kind of intelligent answer, no matter the subject, no matter what pains he was currently undertaking. This was unusual behavior.

Finally, DiZ said, "I nearly said 'the real world.' Which reminds me..."

DiZ pressed a few buttons on the interface that Riku couldn't see. He heard something shift behind him and turned around.

The projected image on the wall behind him was no longer that of streaming data, but a snapshot of the mansion's grounds. The position of the hidden camera was such that they were just able to see over the gate and into the forest entrance beyond. And what Riku saw startled him immensely.

Three details stood out.

First of all, nearest to the forest were the local teens known as Hayner, Pence, and Olette. The real ones, not the simulations in Roxas' alternate data world. They were obstructed by a barrier of some kind, not at all unlike the ones that appeared during certain Heartless or Nobody encounters, forcing you to defeat all of them before continuing. But why would those three encounter a combat barrier?

Secondly, there was a solitary Dusk weaving through the air in mid-attack. Nobodies near the mansion were never a good sign to begin with, but the fact that the Nobody was in conflict with something _other_ than them was significant.

And then there was the detail that confused Riku the most. Frantically trying to avoid the Dusk's attack was an unfamiliar teenager with brown hair. In his right hand, he held a strange weapon of sorts. It was round and darkly colored, but it had a sharp blade. Was it some sort of shield?

DiZ noted Riku's reaction. "Quite telling, is it not?"

The young man lifted his hood to clear up his frame of vision, revealing the head of the same Ansem Riku had been possessed by. The silver-haired, dark-skinned man stared at the image with yellow eyes.

As DiZ said, the image was _extremely_ telling. Riku was having trouble stopping himself from jumping to conclusions as he tried to piece the information together. The kids, the barrier, the Nobody, the shield... All of it meant something big, Riku could feel it...

Suddenly, the image zoomed in on the unfamiliar teen and the shield. At the computer, DiZ said, "Do you know who this is, Riku?"

"Not at all," was Riku's honest answer. He'd never seen the boy in his life.

DiZ slowly stood from his seat and walked over to Riku, moving to stand beside him as they analyzed the image together. "That," he said, "is the stranger who dropped into this world the morning before last. His name is Alexander."

He looked over at Riku and gave him an empty smile. "Can you figure out the rest?"

Riku was feeling nervous. With the Organization closing in and Sora's reawakening so close at hand, an information bombshell was the last thing he thought he needed. But he gave DiZ the benefit of the doubt and started turning the gears in his mind.

All three details – Hayner's group, the Dusk, and the battling Alexander – suggested an unnerving explanation.

"...This is no random encounter," Riku started, looking to DiZ for his approval. The wise man gave him a nod and a smile, so he continued with the mental exercise. "The Organization usually stays out of the locals' sight, but this was a special case. They... think this Alexander is a threat?"

"Very good," DiZ replied.

Riku wasn't feeling terribly proud; he was still in the dark on this. "I don't understand. Who is this guy? Why could _he_ threaten the Organization?"

DiZ turned around and started walking back to the computer terminal. "Alexander possesses several... let's call them 'traits'... that could ensure the Organization's victory or destruction." He suddenly laughed. "Yes, even _I_ am tempted to kidnap the poor boy and learn from him."

"Learn _what_?" Riku demanded, his patience beginning to wear thin. "What makes him so special?"

With that, DiZ found himself cornered. He could not dodge that particular question.

Sighing, he turned once more to face the young man from the Destiny Islands. "In all candidness," he said, "I'm not sure you are ready to hear it. I know I wasn't, when I was given the knowledge. This one boy throws our entire existence into question through his mere presence. And with each passing hour, he finds another way to undo everything we've learned about the secrets of the universe."

DiZ fell silent in thought. Then he said, "Look once more at Alexander."

Riku looked back at the image, which was still zoomed in on the teenager. A minor mosaic effect had occurred due to the low quality of the image, but it wasn't bad enough to obscure most of the finer details.

After a while, Riku found himself regarding Alexander's weapon again. It was definitely a shield, albeit one with a blade around the rim. It looked much like something Goofy would wield, except smaller and much sharper. The front of the shield, however, boasted a very peculiar design. The base color was a dark green. Taking up most of the center space was the barbed heart symbol that denoted the Emblem Heartless. And in the very, _very_ center, in the middle of the Heartless emblem, was a small keyhole.

Riku did a take. "What?"

DiZ pretended not to notice him. "Alexander, whether by his own power or by the whim of Kingdom Hearts, has been granted a weapon. A weapon in the likeness of the Keyblade, but entirely unique as well."

"You don't mean..." Riku mumbled, hoping that DiZ wouldn't say what he was thinking.

The fallen philosopher let the sentence trail off unfinished. "Everything we know about the Keyblade has now been thrown into question, thanks to Alexander once again." Sitting down at the computer once more, he added, "Do you know what the most incredible part of this is?"

DiZ smiled, something he didn't do often of late. "He has absolutely no idea."


	5. A Matter of Pride

_Scene: A Matter of Pride_

_From The Interference Chapter 18: Adventures in the Savannah_

Four beams of light shot down from the Gummi Ship into the atmosphere of the newfound world. The world itself, known as the Pride Lands, could only be described as "earthen." Rolling savannas, wide deserts, lush oases...

...and then _this_ place. An expanse of cold, jagged rock, littered with elephant bones, pits of acid, and steam geysers. It was locally known as the Elephant Graveyard.

But as the beams of light impacted a clearing of the rock, depositing the four adventurers into the field, their unforgiving surroundings weren't the first thing on their minds.

Sora, the Keyblade Master, was delightedly surprised. "Hey! Check us out!"

Donald looked down on the others from a couple of feet above them. "Yeah!"

Alexander Karsath, the Interference, cringed as he experienced his new form. Yes, he'd been expecting this, but – as usual – the concept paled in comparison to the reality.

The Pride Lands was based on the movie The Lion King, and its inhabitants were entirely composed of talking animals – no humans whatsoever. So, just like for Halloween Town and Atlantica, the quartet had been transformed to fit in.

Donald Duck had been transformed into a full-grown pelican. Judging by the way he kept his wings flapping to stay airborne, the form came rather naturally to the wizard.

His companion Goofy had become a turtle. It fit his theme of shield-wielding, but the fact that his head was still the same made his form odd to behold.

Alexander and Sora stared at each other for a moment as they realized their similarities. Both of them had become lion cubs. They were of a similar size and shape, and both had larger spikes of fur on their heads that resembled their hair.

But Sora's fur was a dark, dark brown color, while Alexander's was a lighter color closer to hazel. Sora's crown-shaped necklace had also remained. And if you bothered to notice, Alex's spiky "hair" laid a little flatter on his head than Sora's, almost drooping to his eyes.

Finally, Sora tore his attention away from their new forms to look at their surroundings. Immediately, he noticed the cold blue stone and the acid pits. "Okay..." he said slowly, his enthusiasm wavering. "This place is kinda creepy, though." Donald mumbled something in agreement.

But then Goofy gulped in fear. There was a hyena in front of him, looking at the group with menacing eyes. Sora glanced at Goofy, then looked back to see that there was another hyena in front of _him_. Donald faced down yet another of the hyenas, sighing in a resigned manner.

Alexander panicked as more and more hyenas came out of the woodworks to support the initial three. They appeared in the clearing, in the layers of the cliff walls above them... It was the whole pack!

One of the hyenas – the loony, drooling character known as Ed – cackled insanely with an unnerving glee in his high-pitched voice.

The quartet naturally formed a circle with their backs to each other. Sora tensed up, looking back and forth at all the hyenas surrounding them. "Heartless?" he asked quickly.

"Hyenas, Sora," Alex corrected him nervously. "They live here."

Internally, the Interference was trying not to panic. Sure, he knew their lives probably weren't going to end here, but... well, the uncomfortable new lion form put a damper on his confidence. And seeing the sharp teeth and claws of a whole pack of hyenas in-person didn't help him any.

Donald made an effort to defuse the situation. "Don't mind us! Just passing through. We won't be any trouble."

"Yeah, that's right!" Sora added, nodding vigorously.

Some of the hyenas on the ground started to circle them in a worrying manner. One of them, the female character Shenzi, replied, "Don't be silly. We'd _love_ you to stick around for lunch."

The group only got more nervous. Sora looked back and forth and said, "Um... we didn't bring anything to eat."

Alexander placed a paw over his eyes and lowered his head to the ground, muttering, "You didn't just say that... _Please_ tell me you didn't just say that..."

Sora caught on. "Uh-oh."

Another hyena, Banzai, just laughed at their reactions. "That's not gonna be a problem!" he announced.

Goofy gulped. "G-Gawrsh, Sora... I think WE'RE the lunch!"

Ed cackled and licked his chops.

Donald flapped furiously, looking left and right before letting out a panicked cry. The hyenas charged in, and all four adventurers took that as a cue to start running in different directions.

But they didn't get very far. Alex couldn't even get started before a hyena bowled him over. Sora got further and gained a little speed, but he ended up launching himself forward to roll onto his back.

Banzai kept grinning as he closed in on Sora. "Going somewhere?"

Donald and Goofy found themselves cornered against the cliff by the majority of the pack. Alexander tried to roll onto his feet again, but two of the hyenas pinned him down while one placed a claw on his belly. Suddenly, things seemed to be going out of control. And it looked like Banzai would have the first taste, lowering his jaw and moving to take a bite out of Sora...

But a lion's roar echoed into the clearing, and Banzai clamped his mouth shut right in front of Sora's face. Glaring in the general direction of the roar, he growled, "Man, that Scar's got the _worst_ timing...!"

"Just let him roar," Shenzi advised, walking over to him.

"Naaah..." Banzai muttered, "we'd better go see what he wants. Sounds like he's grumpy enough already."

Shenzi just sighed, rolling her eyes. "Fine."

The hyena pack raced out of the clearing, leaving the quartet alone to recover. Sora got to his feet and watched them until the last one was gone, and then turned to Donald and Goofy. "I dunno what that was about," he remarked, "but I'm glad it's over!"

Donald and Goofy also let out a massive sigh of relief, sharing Sora's sentiment.

Sora looked to the other side of the clearing, where Alexander was still on his back. Worriedly, he asked,"Hey Alex, are you okay?"

Alex shook his head. "No no, I think I'll just lay down a while and... Yeah. See if that works."

Donald grunted. "He's fine."

Sora rolled his eyes and walked over to Alexander on all fours. Looking down at him, he said, "C'mon Alex. You knew we weren't in any big trouble, didn't you?"

Alex averted his gaze. "Well, yeah, but..." He sighed. "It's one of those close call things. One second makes a difference, and... I didn't know if me being here would make that difference or not. And then this form just... Gah..."

Finally, Alex tried rolling back onto his feet. He failed once, but then managed to scramble onto all fours the second time. Looking at Sora, he said, "If we'd been normal, two dozen hyenas wouldn't have been _that_ big a deal. But we were defenseless back there!"

Sora nodded. "Everything's _harder_ on four legs..."

"Amen to that," Alex agreed.

Donald flapped his way over to them. "Better start practicing!" he advised them.

Alexander glared up at him. "Easy for you to say, birdie."

Hearing this, Goofy dashed over to them – which was surprising since he was a turtle and had only been one for three minutes. "Hey, I found a trick to it! Here, lemme show ya."


End file.
